International Online Training Program On Intractable
Conflict

Confusing Material Interests with Fundamental Human Needs

One common framing problem is the assumption that a conflict is caused by a conflict of
interests, when it is really a conflict of fundamental needs (or a conflict of interests
and needs together). While some conflict theorists (most notably Fisher and Ury, authors
of Getting to Yes) blend the concepts of interests and needs together, human
needs theorists point out an important distinction. They say that interests are tangible
things, such as land, money, or jobs that can be traded and compromised, while needs are
intangible things, such as identity, security, and recognition, that are not for trading.

Since needs are intangible, they are often hidden underneath the more visible conflict
over interests. But when human needs are in conflict too, resolving the conflict of
interest will not make the conflict go away. Sometimes, attempts to deal with the conflict
of interest will actually make the situation worse, as people get angry at the thought of
having to compromise, as is usually done with interest-based conflicts. Similarly, the
fundamental rule of "separating the people from the problem"--one of the four
fundamental rules of principled negotiation described in Getting to Yes--can also
make matters worse as the identity of the person is the problem.

Conflicts between ethnic groups, for example, are almost always needs-based conflicts
as one group feels that its identity, security, its fair place in the social, political,
or economic system, or the recognition of the value of its culture is being denied. This
is particularly apparent, perhaps, in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Palestinians
feel they are being denied their legitimate national identity, while the Israelis feel a
need to prevent the formation of a Palestinian state because they see such a state as a
threat to Israeli security. However, much of the effort to resolve that conflict has been
based on compromises over tangible things--land, most notably. Yet the greatest progress
has come when key people in the conflict have acknowledged the underlying fundamental
human needs and taken steps to deal with those: Yasir Arafat's recognition of Israel's
right to exist, for instance, and Rabin's recognition of the legitimacy of the Palestinian
identity.

Links to Examples of this Problem:

This article describes the failure of diplomacy in preventing the war in Yugoslavia.
Although Touval cites many reasons for this failure, one is assuming the primary issues
concerned material interests, when fundamental human needs of security and identity were
actually seen as more important.

This is a short summary of an article about the mediation of gang conflicts in the
United States. Cooper points out the fundamental human needs that are served by gang
membership, and argues that those needs must be addressed if gang violence is to be
diminished.